They’re still saying St. Louis has the third largest Mardi Gras celebration, after New Orleans (duh) and Mobile. We can’t vouch for that statistic, but we do know it’s a crazy, funky, cool, raucous time of year. And it’s here! Look for us here and there during the big Mardi Gras party — at the Blues City Deli on Thursday, February 8 at 6 pm, the high-tone Mayor’s Ball at City Hall on Friday, February 9 at 7 pm (with our friends Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players), at Beale on Broadway on Parade Day, Saturday, February 10 at 3:30 pm (with a whole host of local talent) and wrapping things up with our annual Fat Tuesday show at Broadway Oyster Bar (with the Boudin Brothers Band). Grab your feathers, throw on your beads, lace up those dancing shoes and we’ll see you at Mardi Gras!

Holy cow, it’s 2018. The good news is, it’s no longer 2017. That year kinda sucked, if we can be honest with you. So now it’s time to set some new goals, and we don’t mean the gotta-lose-weight-gotta-lay-off-the-booze-gotta-buy-the-wife-flowers-more-often kind of resolutions, although all of those are certainly worth shooting for. We’re talking about loftier goals, like cooler and smarter heads in government, actual equality for all humans, and real help for those less fortunate than ourselves. From a band perspective, those lofty goals might include more shows, more travel and maybe even a new record by summer. Here’s hoping we all strive to attain our goals, and that you, dear friends, enjoy a 2018 full of peace, love and music.

At least our new Christmas record is! We are very excited to announce the arrival of “A Funky Butt Family Christmas,” featuring eight of your holiday favorites performed by some of St. Louis’s premier artists. We are blessed to have an amazing extended musical family, and honored to have them contribute to this record. It features vocal performances by Emily Wallace, Brian Owens, Al Holliday, Roland Johnson, Big Mike Aguirre and Steve Ewing. Other very special guest performers include Dave Grelle, Matt Henry, Derick Tramel, Ben Reece, Matt Brinkmann, Emma Tiemann and Andy Hainz. The CD is available at all upcoming gigs and is coming soon to iTunes and CDBaby.com. Thomas Crone of St. Louis Magazine was kind enough to write a feature article about the record and our holiday shows. Our Holiday Brasstravaganzas are scheduled for December 15 and 16 at Off Broadway, with a kids’ matinee on the afternoon of the 16th. Tickets are going fast, so grab yours now!

We know what you’re thinking — hey, hold on now, it’s not even “fall back from Daylight Savings Time” yet! True, but like most things, it’ll be here before we know it. And winter means one important thing to us — another Holiday Brasstravaganza (our 9th) at Off Broadway! Shows are Friday, December 15th and Saturday, December 16th, with a kids’ matinee on Saturday afternoon. We are putting the finishing touches on our brand-new Christmas record, which will be available at those shows and features some very special guest performers: Emily Wallace, Dave Grelle, Brian Owens, Big Mike Aguirre, Al Holliday, Matt Henry, Derick Tramel, Matt Brinkmann, Ben Reece, Roland Johnson and Steve Ewing, along with newcomers Emma Tiemann on violin and Andy Hainz on cello. Sure, mid-December isn’t exactly right around the corner — all we’re saying is, it’s not too early to get your tickets. Because it just might sell out, and you don’t want to miss this show.

We throw a little holiday party every year at Off Broadway, a just-right-sized club in St. Louis, and invite a number of our friends to join us to play and sing Yuletide songs. It’s turned into kind of a must-see event, with sold-out crowds in their pajamas singing along and really digging the holiday spirit. About five years ago, we put out an EP of some of our favorite songs, and we thought it was high time to do it again. So we’ve been working this summer on bringing our special guests into the studio, and are very close to having a second as-yet-untitled holiday record. We couldn’t be more excited — it’s been so much fun recording with Emily Wallace, Big Mike Aguirre, Roland Johnson, Al Holliday, Steve Ewing, Dave Grelle, Matt Henry and Derick Tramel, and we can’t wait to get it all wrapped up. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you posted on a release date. In the meantime, you might want to start thinking about planning for this year’s Holiday Brasstravaganza, December 15 and 16 at Off Broadway. When tickets go on sale, you’ll find them here.

The Riverfront Times, our local alternative newspaper, has selected its “STL 77,” a group of 77 local acts who “did big things in the last twelve months.” We are honored to be among this fine company of artists who help provide our city with a thriving music scene. Read all about it here.

One of our favorite spots to play is Jazz At The Bistro. It’s such a stylish, cool room, the sound is great and it gives us a chance to do some different things in a serious jazz supper club setting. It’s especially fun when we get some friends to join us, which is what happened on Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25. We had the privilege of playing with some very special guests, including Al Holliday, Emily Wallace, Derick Tramel, Matt Henry and for the first time, the amazing Anita Jackson. If you’d like to check out how it all sounded, click here.

Hey, friends and hockey fans! We just recorded a second-line version of the classic W. C. Handy tune “Saint Louis Blues” and are making it available for download — and all proceeds go to support “Blues For Kids,” the charity organization of the St. Louis Blues hockey team. For just $5.00, you can help support this wonderful organization that does so much to improve the health and wellness of youth in the St. Louis area. Check it out at https://funkybuttbrassband.bandcamp.com/track/saint-louis-blues-download-to-support-blues-for-kids. We hope you’ll download the track and share the link with your friends!

We were able to close out 2016 on a high note — and a Blue note. We marched the St. Louis Blues alumni team onto the ice to the strains of “Saint Louis Blues” for the NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game on December 31st, then blew the roof off the Broadway Oyster Bar with a fun New Year’s Eve show. The NYE performance featured special guests Al Holliday, Phil Wright and Derick Tramel, with our original sax player Ben Reece playing electric bass (our sousaphonist Cody Henry was out of town). It was a solid way to wind up a crazy year, one that saw many of our musical heroes shuffle off the mortal coil and one that featured an election that could put many of the freedoms we often take for granted at risk. Here’s what we DO know: It’s a brand new year, and that means a clean slate. We need to focus on the important stuff, care for those who need caring and fight against oppression, abuse, misogyny and unfairness whenever and wherever we see it happening. “Fight the power,” said the Isley Brothers, and that’s as good a mantra as any as we begin 2017. Happy New Year to all our friends. Hope it’s your best one yet.

Despite some unexpected weather obstacles, like frighteningly icy road conditions on Friday night, we had an amazing turnout for our 8th Annual Holiday Brasstravagaza shows, and another incredibly fun, utterly awesome time. Huge super-sized thanks to our friends who performed with us, some of whom were first-timers: Al Holliday, Matt Henry, Ben Reece, Emily Wallace, Big Mike Aguirre, Eric Lysaght, Jerry Jost, Steve Ewing, Roland Johnson, Phil Wright, Derick Tramel, Bob Bennett, Matt Brinkmann and Miss Mimi Le Uke. Y’all were unbelievable. Thanks to Captain Spaulding and Bart for making us sound good. And to Triple Jam Productions for the outrageous lighting. Thanks to our MCs, Chris Denman and Travis Terrell from We Are Live on 590 for working up the crowd, and to Josh Wattler for doing pretty much whatever we needed him to do. Thanks to Crystal Rolfe, Eric Nemens and Madison Thorn for their photography skills (we’ll post photos soon). Thanks to Steve Pohlman and the staff at Off Broadway for accommodating us and hosting the best holiday party of the season, and to Urban Chestnut Brewing Company for sponsoring the whole dang thing. Big shout-out to drummer Ron Sikes, who missed Friday’s show after spending 7 hours stuck on an unmoving I-55, to percussionist Matt Henry for saving the day by filling in on drums, and to sax player Austin Cebulske for missing Saturday due to what appeared to be a bum appendix. Saving the biggest thanks of all for the folks who braved the elements to join us and showed us so much love and support. You are why we keep doing this crazy stuff. Already looking forward to Brasstravaganza 9. Happy Holidays from the Funky Butt Brass Band.